Page 12 - AsianOil Week 23 2021

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Santos, Beach win government

funding for Moomba CCS project

PROJECTS & AUSTRALIAN developers Santos and Beach Scenario requires a hundredfold increase in CCS
COMPANIES Energy’s Moomba carbon capture and stor- between now and 2050 to achieve the world’s cli-
age (CCS) project in South Australia has been mate goals – going from 40mn tonnes of CO2
awarded a AUD15mn ($11.6mn) grant from the stored each year today to 5.6bn tonnes by 2050.
federal government. “Australia has a natural competitive advan-
The AUD210mn ($162.7mn) CCS project tage in CCS with known high-quality, stable
aims to store 1.7mn tonnes per year of carbon geological storage basins capable of injection at
dioxide (CO2) in the Cooper Basin, with capac- a rate of 300mn [tpy] for at least 100 years – the
ity to expand this to 20mn tpy. The government same basins that have safely and permanently
awarded the grant from its Carbon Capture Use held oil and gas in place for tens of millions of
and Storage (CCUS) Development Fund. years.”
Santos said the Moomba project not only Santos and Beach Energy’s Moomba was one
achieved the fund’s objectives by reducing gas of six projects to receive funding under the gov-
sector emissions but could also help bring large- ernment’s new CCUS Development Fund. Other
scale greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters together to successful applicants included Mineral Carbon-
reduce the costs and risks associated with CCS ation International, Energy Developments, Car-
projects. bon Transport and Storage, Corporate Carbon
Santos CEO and managing director Kevin Advisory and Boral.
Gallagher said the project would be one of the The six projects are expected to generate
lowest-cost projects in the world at AUD25-30 AUD412mn ($319.5mn) worth of investment,
($19.37-23.24) per tonne. He added that the pro- with Australian Petroleum Production and
ject was an important step towards achieving the Exploration Association (APPEA) CEO Andrew
Australian government’s long-term goal of com- McConville saying: “CCS is already an estab-
pressing, transporting and storing CO2 for less lished emissions abatement solution in the Aus-
than AUD20 ($15.5) per tonne. tralian oil and gas industry, and it is one of five
Gallagher said: “The International Energy priority low-emissions technologies identified
Agency’s [IEA] Sustainable Development by the government.”™

State Gas unearths new

CBM play in Queensland

PROJECTS & AUSTRALIAN independent State Gas has
COMPANIES announced that a second well on its wholly
owned coal-bed methane (CBM) project in
Queensland has confirmed a new gas play.
State Gas said on June 9 that test results from
the Rougemont-2 well, which was spudded on
May 27, had confirmed a new Bandanna CBM
play in the 1,414-square km authority to pros-
pect (ATP) 2062 (Rolleston-West) project. The
well encountered 8 metres of net coal, consistent
with predictions, and has since been suspended
pending production testing.
State Gas said the gas-bearing Bandanna coal indicated near-pipeline quality gas. As such, the
measures showed strong correlation with meas- company is confident that field reserves exceed
ures identified by coal exploration holes and the threshold for commercial volumes.
past conventional wells in the area. Analysis of The company has begun planning for pro-
drill-stem test (DST) data confirmed excellent duction testing at its two Rougemont wells, with
permeability, with State Gas adding that initial the second well set to be used in the testing pro-
analysis received from the company’s first well cess. Rougemont-1 was spudded on May 17 and

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 23 10•June•2021